We're in the final stretch of our "new normal", there's only 5 days left of "distance learning" (it's funny how 2 months ago I would've asked what the heck those 2 phrases mean and now that's all we hear!) and then it's officially summer!!!  

Kade has done fine with home school, he gets up and does it right away.  I honestly haven't even looked too closely at his requirements and if he's meeting them.  I probably should but he's such a rule follower that I'm trusting he's doing everything.  I've also taken on the attitude of, "is he going to fail 3rd grade if he doesn't get something done?  No.  So, really, who cares?"  Probably not the best attitude to have as a parent.

Mason, on the other hand, has been a struggle to say the least.  He does not want to do anything and I don't blame him but, dang, is it frustrating to just get him to do the bare minimum!  We've had to get creative with bribing him and 99% of the time it involves fishing.  Again, he's not going to fail Kindergarten but I cannot wait until the pressure is off and we can just enjoy the day without schoolwork looming over our heads.

These boys are GREAT at enjoying their day.  We've been counting our blessings that we are in the country because they have so many places to go just on our property to play and use their imagination.  The biggest hit so far has been the sandbox, they've got quite the farming operation set up in and around there.  The waterway has also been a top contender.  They load up their 4 wheeler and pretend they are on a hunt, or they're living in the wild like Bear Grylls.

I'm not sure what the summer holds in store for us but I do know that in 5 days I'll finally get my dining room table back!!

Fishing season is officially open!

Can't social distance from cousins forever!

Kade and Violet resting between horse lessons with Grandma.

Seemed like the perfect day to do some shirtless schoolwork in the sun!

The squirrel feeder has found a home...

and a repeat customer.  This big fella spends hours at the bar.

Ok, it's official, we've gone off the deep end as the pictures below will show.  I guess the good thing is, at least we're all enjoying ourselves!  We haven't had this much time on our hands since before I can even remember.  Projects are getting done, projects we didn't even know we wanted to do are getting started, the boys have found a rhythm together that has tightened their bond even more than it was.  Erik and I have started running again!  We haven't done that since before Kade.  It's not pretty, it's not fast and it's not far but it feels good to be consistent again.  Oh, and there's only 10 school days left...but who's counting.

The boy's idea of "going out" nowadays is to go to a tree in the middle of a field that has a little water running by it.  So, at the end of the day, when their school work is done, we head out to the tree and they play for hours.

Of course Mason attempted to jump across the water.  And missed.  Thank goodness Kade was there to help!  Although Kade was laughing so hard I'm not sure how much help he was.

I showed Erik this picture from Pinterest.

He thought it was hilarious.

2 weeks later, he made this!

Yep, we're officially feeding the squirrels.

And he made 2 of them so we can feed squirrels at the front of the house and the back of the house.

And last, but definitely not least, the boys needed haircuts.  All of them.

Mohawks for everyone!

Week 798, or so it feels.  Everything would be perfect if they'd just cancel school!  This homeschooling is for the birds!  

Kade got to go on his first turkey hunt this year.  Luck hasn't been with him so far, but he's going out again this weekend and I have a feeling his time is coming.  He's loving every minute of it and he's definitely the hunter in the family.

They had a school assignment where they had to use the letters in their name to describe themselves.  I had to giggle at his "E"..."I eat".  Yes he does!  I swear they are both in a never ending growth spurt that started the day school let out.

My dad gave Mason his old lawn mower.  He drives around the yard pretending it's his combine.  It's providing hours of fun!

Catfish hunting

Last weekend I took out a couple loaves of frozen bread dough to use for homemade pizza crusts.  I put them out in the morning, went outside for the day and completely forgot about them.  I could not stop giggling when I came in and saw this.

So, of course, I had to show the boys.

Erik got in on the action too!

We were all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt.

I don't even know what week we're on for home schooling/social distancing.  I do know that the weather has finally turned and these boys want NOTHING to do with school work!!  They head outside in the morning and don't come in until 7:00 for supper.  I'm about ready to hang up my imaginary teaching license and call it good for the year!

We got word a week or two ago that there may be some temporary furloughs and pay decreases at our jobs.  Erik got notice that he is taking a 7% pay decrease and will need to furlough for 6 weeks.  Basically he's making about what he did 2 years ago and since our finances haven't changed since then, we'll be fine.  It also means that he has most of the summer off.  He's not been outwardly showing it but I can tell he's secretly pretty excited about this.  So far, my pay and hours are basically the same.  I will be taking an extra day or two off every pay period but I have a feeling my work could pick up soon.  So, I'm enjoying my days home while I can!  And let me tell you, if I have to start going in to work more, then we will DEFINITELY be playing hooky from home school!!

Easter was a bit different this year but we still hid some eggs and had a delicious brunch of egg bake and monkey bread.

It also snowed 9 inches on Easter so we laid around all day watching movies and zooming with family.

We played a silly game when we were eating.  You had to take a bite and not smile.  If you smiled, you had to do 5 push ups.

Guess who smiled!

Umbrella Day for school

So we had our first taste of spring a couple weeks ago.  Since then it's snowed 9" and of course, stupid me, I washed and put away ALL of our snow gear.  This isn't my first rodeo so I'm not sure why I fell for it when MN teased us with 60's and sun.  Anyway, Erik and the boys managed to accomplish a somewhat big outside job in that little time!

But first, the weekly update.  School is still going fairly well.  I don't love it, the boys don't love, Erik really doesn't love it on the days I'm at work and he's trying to work from home with our handsome, little scholars.  But, we don't complain because we know how lucky and blessed we are.  Everyone is still healthy, happy, we all still enjoy each other's company, and these boys (Erik included) are eating me out of house and home!

Mason's Easter art project.

He named him "Roley" (pronounced Rawley).

It was "Hat Day" at school that day!

For real, it was.  

All of the teachers were wearing hats for their online classes.

A picture of Mason's daily journal that we submit to the teacher every Friday!

Onto the project.

When we moved in there was a basic swing set in the back yard.  The boys played on it exactly 6 times in the 6 years we've been here.  Being the age appropriate hoarders that they are, they've always refused when we say we should take it down.

Since Kade has been mowing though, he's changed his tune.  Mason was happy to help when he realized it meant he got to destroy something.

I tried to talk them into keeping the base of it and attaching a porch swing to put by the fire pit.  I lost.  The lumber is going to be used to build a lean-to for firewood.  Lame.

 With the weather warming up the boys have been really into baseball!  Well, Kade is ALWAYS into baseball but this is the first year that Mason has shown a lot of interest too.
It's fun to see them playing catch, batting and watching Kade help Mason with techniques and skills.  Now, fingers crossed their season doesn't get canceled!  So far it's still on but I'm worried its not going to stay that way.  Kade will be even more devastated than he was about March Madness being canceled and I'm not going to lie, I might shed a few tears too.  I absolutely LOVE watching them play.  In the meantime, they'll keep practicing and if the season is canceled, I'll count my blessings that I still get to see them having fun out my front door.

I've been trying to remember (and remind Erik) to take more pictures during this time to document what we've been doing during this unprecedented experience.  After looking through the pictures I had to giggle because I realized that we haven't been doing anything different!  Besides the boys being home from school and Erik working from home every day, we've literally been doing what we've always done!  Obviously, for the most part, we were hermits before it was required of us!

Brother snuggle time

We watched the movie, "Little Giants" and Mason went through a couple day phase of being a football player.  Here he is "training" in pants and jersey.

Kade helping Mason get his reading done.

Last spring, while I was on a run, I got chased by a family of weasels.

A couple days ago the boys caught this guy in our shed.

That's called Karma, weasel!

They let him go on the way to Whitewater when they went fishing.  This little fella can now chase another poor schmuck just trying to get some exercise!!

Mason, bird hunting.

I don't think they even got a nibble but they were just happy to be out of the house for awhile!

First day of online learning...and the "fun" begins!!!